High Voltage Battery Failure (2 modules need to be replaced)

[Nick]

I'm leaning towards another brand for my next car. 55k broken and no loaner, I may as well go with a luxury brand and feel like the brand values me and provides when needed.

But I love the car so much, I'm sure I will be extremely frustrated if something happens and I can't get help.

Yeah Ford Customer Service sucks!!!

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[dliunatic]

Bummer. Don't forgot to vote on the poll at
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/mme-high-voltage-battery-issues.7602/ so we can track how many folks on this forum are having similar issues. It's not all that scientific, but at least it'll get a rough idea of how common this actually may be.

 

[Nick]

So I got my car back on Friday (Aug 6) after 37days at the dealership with no loaner car, even after tons of calls and complaining to Ford Customer service.

It turns out the issue was one cell in one battery module was reading ~216mAh, they should be around 270mAh. They had to replace 2 full modules because the are on the cooling plates in pairs and they must be assembled in the factory. So due to 1 out of 36 cells in one module was bad, they had to replace 2 of the 12 battery modules/packs.

I got the car on Friday evening, and it was at ~80% charged. I drove about 80 miles Saturday, then it sat in my driveway till this morning (Monday) and I did not charge it. Went to leave for work this morning and BAM! Same faults! And in limp home / turtle mode.

Now I am at the Dealership. The Tech just talked to the Ford Engineer, they told him it looks like one of the modules did not update fully and get up to the correct voltage. Even though a Ford Engineer was at the dealership when it was completed/fixed last time and was supposed to verify everything was set and updated correctly.

Ford Engineering is asking the Technician to use ”Expert Mode” in the battery update tool to get the voltages up in that one module. He is working on it now, but he has to drop the entire battery pack out of the car to do that...

The Dealership is working to get me a loaner right now as I sit in the waiting room....

 

[Nick]

Also, Ford will not fix the buzzing screen issue, they say some cars have it and it is "normal”. Here is the text (Friday) from when the Ford Engineer was on site to help finalize the fix on the battery the first time.

 

[Chainspell]

So I got my car back on Friday (Aug 6) after 37days at the dealership with no loaner car, even after tons of calls and complaining to Ford Customer service.

It turns out the issue was one cell in one battery module was reading ~216mAh, they should be around 270mAh. They had to replace 2 full modules because the are on the cooling plates in pairs and they must be assembled in the factory. So due to 1 out of 36 cells in one module was bad, they had to replace 2 of the 12 battery modules/packs.

I got the car on Friday evening, and it was at ~80% charged. I drove about 80 miles Saturday, then it sat in my driveway till this morning (Monday) and I did not charge it. Went to leave for work this morning and BAM! Same faults! And in limp home / turtle mode.

Now I am at the Dealership. The Tech just talked to the Ford Engineer, they told him it looks like one of the modules did not update fully and get up to the correct voltage. Even though a Ford Engineer was at the dealership when it was completed/fixed last time and was supposed to verify everything was set and updated correctly.

Ford Engineering is asking the Technician to use ”Expert Mode” in the battery update tool to get the voltages up in that one module. He is working on it now, but he has to drop the entire battery pack out of the car to do that...

The Dealership is working to get me a loaner right now as I sit in the waiting room....

Wow that is frustrating. I truly hope this is just due to service staff learning how to repair this car and not a general unreliability.

 

[EELinneman]

So I got my car back on Friday (Aug 6) after 37days at the dealership with no loaner car, even after tons of calls and complaining to Ford Customer service.

It turns out the issue was one cell in one battery module was reading ~216mAh, they should be around 270mAh. They had to replace 2 full modules because the are on the cooling plates in pairs and they must be assembled in the factory. So due to 1 out of 36 cells in one module was bad, they had to replace 2 of the 12 battery modules/packs.

I got the car on Friday evening, and it was at ~80% charged. I drove about 80 miles Saturday, then it sat in my driveway till this morning (Monday) and I did not charge it. Went to leave for work this morning and BAM! Same faults! And in limp home / turtle mode.

Now I am at the Dealership. The Tech just talked to the Ford Engineer, they told him it looks like one of the modules did not update fully and get up to the correct voltage. Even though a Ford Engineer was at the dealership when it was completed/fixed last time and was supposed to verify everything was set and updated correctly.

Ford Engineering is asking the Technician to use ”Expert Mode” in the battery update tool to get the voltages up in that one module. He is working on it now, but he has to drop the entire battery pack out of the car to do that...

The Dealership is working to get me a loaner right now as I sit in the waiting room....

You are now in the qualification for lemon law action. I would not be nearly as patient as you have been. What is Ford, not the dealership, saying regarding this. It's a defective product and you have lost use for such a long period. Just not acceptable. Unfortunately, sometimes the only thing that forces action is to get legal help.

 

[Mach-Lee]

It turns out the issue was one cell in one battery module was reading ~216mAh, they should be around 270mAh. They had to replace 2 full modules because the are on the cooling plates in pairs and they must be assembled in the factory. So due to 1 out of 36 cells in one module was bad, they had to replace 2 of the 12 battery modules/packs.

Interesting, Ford must deem the thermal interface to be too critical to allow a field repair, even though a field repair procedure for the thermal interface exists. If the bond in one cell is bad, it could cause a thermal runaway in the pack. Probably learning from Chevy.

Yes, all 94 cells in the pack have to be at virtually the same exact voltage, otherwise the car will error out. The built-in balancing can only do so much before it gives up. Unfortunately the pack has to be dropped to access the modules for manual balancing with the benchtop equipment. There is some finesse involved trying to get all those cells the same, just takes time. The car is picky about even cell voltages, but this is a safety feature to hopefully prevent a Bolt-style fire.

 

[dliunatic]

So I got my car back on Friday (Aug 6) after 37days at the dealership with no loaner car, even after tons of calls and complaining to Ford Customer service.

It turns out the issue was one cell in one battery module was reading ~216mAh, they should be around 270mAh. They had to replace 2 full modules because the are on the cooling plates in pairs and they must be assembled in the factory. So due to 1 out of 36 cells in one module was bad, they had to replace 2 of the 12 battery modules/packs.

I got the car on Friday evening, and it was at ~80% charged. I drove about 80 miles Saturday, then it sat in my driveway till this morning (Monday) and I did not charge it. Went to leave for work this morning and BAM! Same faults! And in limp home / turtle mode.

Now I am at the Dealership. The Tech just talked to the Ford Engineer, they told him it looks like one of the modules did not update fully and get up to the correct voltage. Even though a Ford Engineer was at the dealership when it was completed/fixed last time and was supposed to verify everything was set and updated correctly.

Ford Engineering is asking the Technician to use ”Expert Mode” in the battery update tool to get the voltages up in that one module. He is working on it now, but he has to drop the entire battery pack out of the car to do that...

The Dealership is working to get me a loaner right now as I sit in the waiting room....

That is awful ? Hopefully it's a quick calibration rather than having to order a whole new battery pack again... Are there any other dealers you can go to nearby that have loaners at least?

 

[theo1000]

IIRC the cells are matched to each other during manufacturing before they are mated together in a module. You can’t just randomly take any cell and stick it into any module. Not how it works. Reconditioning pack is a high skill process.

This has been fairly SOP on EV’s so far. On the Volt/I3 the entire core was sometimes exchanged when the occasional issue was detected. The core would be reconditioned and installed into the next one and so on. Right now Ford probably wants the module back to see if any manufacturing defects can be detected. Eventually they will match a cell to the pack and replace the cell, and then stick it into the next car that needs a replacement module. The Etron too has seen occasional cell failures. Considering there are three times as many MachE as Etron in USA already I don’t think the numbers point to systematic issues yet. We are a long ways from there. There are 25,000 Mache running around in USA in hot weather. A certain number of cell failures is to be expected.

For those going off on LG, their technology is second to none. Its just a very difficult thing they are trying to do. 60,000 Chevy Bolts sold, 10 fires/failures and the folks go bat $hit crazy. Meanwhile Nissan settled for Billions after thousands upon thousands of their CVT drives failed prematurely causing accidents and pile ups and injuries and crickets......

 

[GrumblesTheDog]

IIRC the cells are matched to each other during manufacturing before they are mated together in a module. You can’t just randomly take any cell and stick it into any module. Not how it works. Reconditioning pack is a high skill process.

This has been fairly SOP on EV’s so far. On the Volt/I3 the entire core was sometimes exchanged when the occasional issue was detected. The core would be reconditioned and installed into the next one and so on. Right now Ford probably wants the module back to see if any manufacturing defects can be detected. Eventually they will match a cell to the pack and replace the cell, and then stick it into the next car that needs a replacement module. The Etron too has seen occasional cell failures. Considering there are three times as many MachE as Etron in USA already I don’t think the numbers point to systematic issues yet. We are a long ways from there. There are 25,000 Mache running around in USA in hot weather. A certain number of cell failures is to be expected.

For those going off on LG, their technology is second to none. Its just a very difficult thing they are trying to do. 60,000 Chevy Bolts sold, 10 fires/failures and the folks go bat $hit crazy. Meanwhile Nissan settled for Billions after thousands upon thousands of their CVT drives failed prematurely causing accidents and pile ups and injuries and crickets......

Good post - informative, and gives some perspective.

That said, OP, really bummed out to hear you turned around and had to go right back into the shop. Have you reached out to @Ford Motor Company on this forum yet? They have seemed pretty proactive with other members who have run into issues.

 

[Nick]

Good post - informative, and gives some perspective.

That said, OP, really bummed out to hear you turned around and had to go right back into the shop. Have you reached out to @Ford Motor Company on this forum yet? They have seemed pretty proactive with other members who have run into issues.

I have not via the forum,I will try that. I have called them many times, I just get the run around. Lots of we will follow up in a day or 2 and then no call, so I have to call them again, and it all goes no where.

 

[HFn!eSwMFilFX4mxbn&!P9T&G]

I have not via the forum,I will try that. I have called them many times, I just get the run around. Lots of we will follow up in a day or 2 and then no call, so I have to call them again, and it all goes no where.

Sorry to hear, I just got these messages yesterday. Calling dealers tomorrow to see who is certified for repairs and has a loaner

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